Alabama players tired of hearing about Leonard Fournette

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (TNS) — With each mention of Leonard Fournette’s name, with each question he was tasked with answering about LSU’s Heisman Trophy frontrunner, a small vein in Jonathan Allen’s forehead bulged just a little more.

Staring straight ahead at times, Alabama’s junior defensive end made his feelings pretty clear: He’s tired of talking about Saturday’s highly touted matchup against the nation’s top running back.

“We’re excited. We’re tired of waiting,” said Allen, who leads Alabama with six sacks and eight tackles for loss. “We love physical games like this. So we’re just excited and ready to get to the field.”

While much of the talk this week about Fournette — at least coming from Tuscaloosa — has been a string of compliments, including Tide head coach Nick Saban calling him “as dominant as any player in the country,” Allen and fellow defensive end Jarran Reed weren’t willing to put the LSU tailback on a pedestal.

“He’s a good player, definitely a physical back, but at the same time, he’s (just) a player as well,” Allen said. “So we’re going to go out there and do what we’ve done every week. We’re not going to put a special emphasis on him or any special game plan in.

“He’s a back — (if) we wrap up and run to the ball, we’ll be successful.”

Allen, usually calm and reserved, was especially intense during his 4 1/2 -minute media session after Wednesday’s practice, and explained why Alabama’s defenders embrace the challenge of facing “angry backs” like Fournette.

“Because it makes me angry,” Allen said, referencing a quote he made on SportsCenter earlier in the day. “So we love that. Especially (among) the D-line and the front seven — the defense we play for — we love this, we love physical backs.”

Which is why, after almost two weeks of discussion about Fournette and his nation’s-best 1,352 rushing yards, and how Alabama’s SEC-leading run defense will fare against him, the time for talking is over for the Tide.

“Basically, just to be honest, I mean, no matter where it is everywhere you go, ‘Are you ready for this? Ready for that?’ ” Reed said. “I’m like, ‘OK.’ “

Reed recalled an “annoying” interaction he had with an Alabama fan this week in Publix.

“I mean, I wasn’t rude about it or anything but I’m just trying to get my groceries,” Reed said, adding even professors have brought up the LSU game in class this week. “The teachers try not to but they sometimes slip up.”

But, with no more media availability before Saturday night’s 7 p.m. kickoff, all that remains is getting the job done against the physically imposing 230-pound Fournette.

The key, according to senior linebacker Reggie Ragland, is proper tackling technique.

“If you don’t wrap up, he goes all day on you,” Ragland said Monday. “Guys have to run to the ball and wrap up on him. We’re gonna see what type of guys we got, and what type of guys they got. It’s all about wrapping up when you get to him because a lot of guys don’t.”

That’s been evident in Fournette’s yards-after-contact, which leads the SEC at nearly 70 per game and 2.9 per carry according to ESPN Stats and Information.

A few of his more memorable runs this season have involved opposing defenders taking bad angles on tackles, which Fournette sheds with ease.

Reed doesn’t think that’s going to even be an issue for Alabama.

“That was other teams. I don’t think we’re going to allow ourselves to let him do that,” Reed said. “He can do all that, run how he’s going to run, (but) we’re going to play our game at the end of the day.”